A topic that is always being discussed whenever the topic of streaming services is brought up is the assessment of whether streaming services are going to take over traditional TV services. Currently – they are working together in harmony allowing you to choose the content that you want to watch from your TV or selected device but with challenges due to the cost of living – this has had an impact on subscription-based services in favour for services such as Freeview and Freesat.
We take a look as to whether streaming will take over completely or if ‘traditional TV’ and streaming will permanently live together in the same space. We take a look at the figures and offer our insights into traditional TV vs streaming services.
At The Aerial Man, we are the leading independent supplier of TV aerials and Freeview in Bristol and the South West. We are Freeview experts and can help you install a TV aerial – replace a current aerial or install additional TV points in your home. For anything relating to our services – get in touch with our expert team today!
Shifts in Viewing Habits Are Continuing
It was widely expected that due to COVID-19 streaming platforms would gain market share as more people were at home and needing to have access to different varieties of content. The global milestone for the number of subscriptions hit 1b in 2020 which was a combination of factors but it’s sensible to argue that the pandemic had an impact on this. By July 2022 – 35% of total time was spent streaming in the US and for the first time ever – streaming surpassed terrestrial TV in terms of time spent viewing. TV still has a massive market share and with free channels being available on Freeview with the option to combine – does this really mean that streaming will surpass TV or will they work together in harmony?
Households are Trying to Spend Less on Outgoings
With any cost of living crisis or situations in which inflation increases – prices naturally go up across the board and necessities become more expensive. This means that luxuries are reviewed and removed and therefore certain subscriptions are cancelled. If you take into consideration that it’s highly likely that someone could have a number of different subscriptions – this means that people will opt to remove streaming services in order to save money each month. With the variety of different streaming services controlling the market, there’s up to 5 to choose from and that’s not even including music streaming services such as Spotify – so it’s highly likely that this has impacted subscription rates. It was reported in Jan 23 that British households cut more than 2m streaming service subscriptions in 2022.
Competition in a Saturated Market & Advertising
The monetisation of shows and continued investments by streaming services is another huge divide compared to TV advertising and monetisation. TV advertising is one of the most traditional advertising methods in terms of modern advertising and provides a revenue stream for the providers. Other services for example are funded by the TV license. It’s a desperate bid for companies in terms of streaming services to monetize invested shows as soon as possible after release through merchandise, viewerships in terms of subscriptions and other methods. In order to be effective and viable for the platforms – they need to deliver on viewerships as well as subscriptions to benefit.
We are the leading independent supplier of TV aerials and Freeview in Bristol and the South West. We are Freeview experts and can help you install a TV aerial – replace a current aerial or install additional TV points in your home. We also offer a wide of additional services such as commercial aerial and satellite dish installation projects and WiFi installations. For anything relating to our services – get in touch with our expert team today!
